


Grace

by JoyBooth



Category: Bones (TV)
Genre: Angst and Humor, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-04-12 02:56:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 19,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4462841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoyBooth/pseuds/JoyBooth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU Where Booth and Brennan meet in high school, because Brennan's foster family is Booth's neighbor. Cross posted from ff</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Grace  
The summer before Seeley Booth's sophomore year of high school, he met the person who changed everything he had ever thought about himself. He was in the front yard shooting pucks into a net when a car pulled up to the Colter's house. It was a common enough occurrence, everyone knew that the Colter's took in foster kids from time to time, but this one caught his attention for some reason. He was staring at her as she got out of the car and as if she could feel his eyes on her, her glaze immediately honed in on his. He felt a shock of something, but quickly looked away going back to his shooting, while she was shuffled into the house.  
It wasn't until the first day of school that he saw her again. He was headed to school early for a meeting with Coach Miller, when he saw her seeking out the back door, carefully making a point of not making any noise. He thought it was a bit odd, but he decided to ignore it and went on his way to school.  
Later that day in Chemistry, he learned her name, Temperance, it's almost as odd as his but it suited her. Not that she is temperate by any means, but it is old fashion and has a certain reverence to it that he liked.  
Time passes and football season turns to hockey season and Seeley Booth doesn't think much about his quiet neighbor. They pass in the halls, and he sees her at the drinking fountain, but he always tries not to look too closely. Deep down he knows why, he knows that she is hiding something, and he knows exactly what it is. He tries to ignore the signs.  
When he heard people yelling in the house next door, he would turn on his favorite Noddy Comet record tries to forget. He buries his head in the sand because accepting that he knows the signs of abuse means admitting that he is living with it too. He can ignore the way she flinches when people bump her in the hall or the day she showed up with her arm in a sling, telling the teacher how she fell off a bike he has never seen. But then one day he doesn't see her sneaking out of the house in the morning. He tries to tell himself that it’s none of his business, that she is just home sick. People miss school all the time, just because she hasn't missed a day yet, that doesn't mean anything, he insists. His gut churns but, he won’t get involved. If it was him, he wouldn't want some nosey stranger asking about his personal life.  
That night after his date with Regina Mendoza, he hears a sound coming from the Colter's backyard.  
It's so quiet he almost dismisses it as the wind, but then his gut twists again. He looks at the Colter house and sees the glow from the television in the living room but other than that the house is dark, even Temperance's room where the light is always on, not that he has made a point to look or anything.  
He focuses on the sound, trying to find an innocuous explanation.  
click, click, click, clank, click, click, clank, click...  
The sound was easily explainable, metal hitting metal, except for the odd rhythm. He moved into the shadows created by the hedge between their homes and crept silently toward the sound.  
"Hello?" He whispered.  
The sound stopped.  
"Hello?" he repeated raising his voice only slightly. "Is someone there? It's Seeley, Seeley Booth."  
Still he heard nothing and he was just turning to leave, when he heard it, an almost gasping sound of a person trying to hold their breath just a little too long.  
"I know you're there, if you come on out, then I can leave, but as it is I am not get any sleep worrying about who was skulking back here."  
"Everything's fine Seeley, just go home." her voice called from somewhere in the darkness. He knew it was her the moment he heard her.  
He hadn't actually ever spoken to her, but he had heard her correcting teachers enough to recognize it in nearly an instant.  
"Temperance?" he questioned the darkness.  
"Yes?" she replied.  
"What are you doing out here at this time of night? And where are you exactly?" Booth asked, her voice was close, but it sounded weird almost like an echo. He looked around but all he saw was the same old rusty Chevy that had sat in the Colter's backyard for as long as he could remember.  
"I think you should go Seeley, if..." she paused for a moment unable to say the name she had meant to, "if anybody found you here there would be questions."  
"You missed school today." he offers, he doesn't know why but he just can't bring himself to leave.  
"Yes, well I have a feeling I will be missing tomorrow too," she sighed.  
"Where are you?" Seeley asked again, after he had walked all the way around the car. He couldn't figure out why her voice sounded so strange, or where the hell she was hiding.  
"Please just go, Seeley, you have a chemistry test tomorrow and if you are just now getting home, you clearly need to go study, and I need to stop wasting air talking to you." She thought she was doing pretty well, coping with her punishment, maintaining a calm in order to conserve oxygen but if Mr. Colter found Seeley here she wasn't sure she could live through a punishment for that. She was so worried about him getting caught here, that she slipped in her effort to push him away.  
Seeley felt like he had been slapped, he was so caught up in her catty comment that he almost missed the most important part of her statement.  
"Temperance, why do you have a limited amount of air?" He asked, already dreading the answer.  
He heard her take a deep breath.  
"Listen closely, Seeley Booth, I am in the trunk of this car. It is a punishment that I deserve and if you don't leave right now, you will most likely earn me a punishment that I do not deserve. So, I will ask you one more time to please leave, and never come back here."  
Seeley stepped back away from the car. Whatever he had been expecting, this was not it, he knew he was in over his head, but how could he just leave her there, then again he had no way to free her. He had already tried the door to the car and they were all locked. He could call the cops, but then what, it wasn't like he had proof that the Colter's had locked her in there. They might try to say it was a teenage prank, or a cry for attention. He had absolutely no idea what to do, but he knew he couldn't just leave.  
He also knew that if he caused her any more trouble, he would not be able to live with himself. He was having a hard enough time just living with his own messed up life. He crept around the far side of the car, he figured in a pinch he could crawl through the hedge if he heard someone coming.  
"Look, I don't know why you are in there, and I don't know what you could have possible done to deserve it, and I know you can't really talk, but I can't just walk away, so I am going to sit here out of sight for a while, while you think of a way for me to make sure you don't die in there." He finally said after taking a seat on the ground, leaning his tired frame against the rear wheel well.  
He thought that she might be ignoring him, or that maybe that last deep breath might have been the last of her air, but then he was relieved to hear an almost silent, "Ok, I will work on it."  
"Just promise me that if you start to feel light-headed, you will tell me so I can go find a crowbar or something and break you out." He offered thoughtfully, he didn't want to get her in anymore trouble, but he was not going to let her die in there either.  
"Ok," she returned, before lapsing into silence as she began to plot her survival.


	2. Compassion

At first Booth was tense, waiting to have someone show up at a moment's notice, but after a while he seemed to realize that no one was coming. No one was coming to check on her, because no one cared. After a while the clicking picked up again, she must have been fidgeting with something, but he took comfort in the noise because that meet she was still thinking, still breathing.  
He was almost lulled to sleep by the gentle sound when he heard her again.  
"Seeley?" She called.  
"Yeah, I'm here."  
He thought he heard a sigh of relief, but he probably imagined it.  
"Do you have a hand drill at your house?" She asked.  
"Um, I think so maybe in the back shed, my dad used to fix stuff around the house, I think I have seen one."  
"Ok, well I pulled back the corner of the carpet and there seems to just be a thin layer of metal between me and the ground you could drill up and air hole and then, if i hear someone coming I could put the carpet back."  
"I'll go see what I can find."  
He was gone much longer than he wanted to be, because the shed was dark and unorganized. He had gone into the house to get s flashlight, but then he ran into his father, who was only too happy to give him a beating for being out past curfew. When his father had finally gotten bored, Booth went to the bathroom and patched himself. By the time he got out of the bathroom, his father was passed out on the couch. He grabbed the flashlight from on top the refrigerator, but then his stomach growled.  
'Shit,' he thought, 'if she wasn't in school she has probably been in the trunk since last night. She must be starving... What could I bring her?'  
His mind drifted for a few moments eyes skimming the pantry before his eyes landed on a bag of trail mix. That would do the job, if he could find the damn drill. He hurried to the shed. When he finally got back to the car he called her name, but there was no response. He tried not to panic, she might have just fallen asleep and it wasn't like he could call her very loudly, so he just made quick work of making an air hole.  
"Seeley?" Temperance whispered. She had been woken up by a strange scratching noise and found herself hoping against hope that it was the cocky boy next door.  
"It's me," he answered, "try not to talk until I get finished here. You should probably move so I don't you when I get through."  
"I am out of the way," she confirmed.  
Finally Booth felt the barrier give way. Temperance noticed the rush of fresh, cool air, at least now she wouldn't suffocate.  
"I am sure my punishment will end in the morning, Seeley. You should probably get to bed, I am no longer in danger." Came the quiet voice from inside the trunk.  
Booth chuckled humorlessly at this. Not in danger, living with someone who would lock her in a trunk for days.  
"I brought you some trail mix." he offered.  
"I am much more likely to die without water than food," She said in that voice she used to correct teachers. Booth was about to make an equally rude reply, when she quickly added. "I appreciate the trouble you went to."  
"I highly doubt that," he thought as he gave his still tender ribs a rub. Instead of making a comment, he ripped open the bag, and started pushing peanuts, raisins and chocolate through the hole he had just made.  
"What is the atomic number of manganese?" She asked after a while.  
"Excuse me?"  
"If you are not going to leave then, I should help you study for you test."  
"Okay?"  
"So, what is the atomic number for manganese?" She repeated.  
Booth thought for a few minutes, "26?"  
"25, symbol?"  
This went on for a long time until both were taking longer and longer to speak.  
"You okay in there?" Booth asked after he had told her an answer three times. There was no response, but when Booth got closer, he heard the sound of quiet snoring. Not knowing what else to do, he decided to go home and try to get some rest. It was already three AM, but Booth set his alarm for five, so he could check on Temperance and try to get her some water before the sun came up and made it a lot harder for him to sneak into the Colter's yard.


	3. Kindness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Booth finds out a bit more about Bren and they become friends.

When his alarm went off at five, he honestly considered going back to sleep, but then a picture of Temperance dead in the trunk, started to form in his mind. He was up and in the kitchen in a matter of minutes.   
It took him a few minutes to find an old McDonald’s straw in the junk drawer, but with that two bottles of water and a box of fruit loops, he headed back to the Colter’s.  
“Temperance?” he whispered. “Come on now, I brought you some water, please wake up.”  
A groan was emitted from the trunk.  
“Come on Temperance, wake up for just minute. I brought you some water,” he offered.  
“Water?” she asked, her voice was starting to get raspy from talking and a lack of water.   
“Yep, I got a straw and a bottle of water, sending it up now,” he answered, relieved that she was still managing to cope with their situation. “Want some fruit loops?”   
“Cereal like that is full of sugar and high fructose corn syrup,” she commented, her voice already sounding better.   
“So, no?”  
“No, I mean yes, I would like some. I could use the blood sugar boast. I just thought you should know that as an athlete that kind of breakfast is not very conducive to a good performance,” she lectured.  
“Yeah, well fruit loops are a lot easier to put through a one inch hole than eggs,” he answered with a hint of irritation.   
“I supposed you are right, Seeley. I appreciate all the trouble you are going to… I don’t know if I could have kept myself together without you,” Temperance acknowledged.   
“I am happy to help,” Seeley frowned at what little he had been able to do.   
“You should probably get going though, you have a test today and the Colter’s will be up soon,” she said.  
“If your light isn’t on later, I’ll come back after dark,” he promised.   
“Don’t trouble yourself, Seeley, I will be fine,” she answered wondering if she would survive another day in the hot trunk, and not wanting Seeley to be the one to find her if she didn’t.  
“If you say so Temperance, but I’ll be back,”  
“Good luck on your test.”  
All day Booth worried about Temperance. Even his coach yelled at him for being distracted. The only thing that actually made sense was his chemistry test, which he was much better prepared for than he had ever been in the past. Still as he ate lunch in the courtyard, he felt the sun beating down on him, something that usually felt so good, now made he wonder if she was getting too hot. It was only 60 degrees, but the heat would be a lot worse in the metal trunk.   
After school, Regina invited him under the bleachers, but he couldn’t relax until he knew she was safe, so he hurried home. As he turned the corner on to their street his eyes darted to her bedroom window. The curtains were drawn but a dim light shown around the edge. He had to force himself to keep walking to his own house. All he wanted to do was go knock on her door, but who knew if it was safe. He would have to wait until the morning. Still, his eyes kept shifting to her window to check for light. It was on all night.   
That night Seeley was haunted by dreams that he had never found her. What would the Colter’s have done if she had died? Would they have called the police? Or would some hiker have found her body in the woods years from now? Would he have even have noticed that she had disappeared? Or would he have just assumed that she had been sent to another home? The dreams showed him a million different terrible outcomes.   
The third time he woke up in a cold sweat the alarm clock only flashed 5:00, but he knew he wouldn’t be getting anymore sleep. He showered and got ready for school checking her window again, secure in the light glowing around the curtain. He snuck into Jared’s room to check on his younger brother, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Making his way to the kitchen, he packed a lunch for Jared. Then he threw two water bottles, two bananas and two granola bars in his back pack, before camping out on the front porch.   
At six on the dot, the front door to the Colter home opened silently. He heaved a sigh of relief, when he saw her familiar form taking great pains to make the door close just as silently.  
“Where ya headed?” Seeley asked, running to catch up to her quick pace away from the house.   
“What are you doing following me?” she asked ignoring his question.  
“I was worried about you,” he commented as he continued to follow her.  
“Well, as you can see I am fine, but I have somewhere to be, so if you will excuse me?” she tried to walk away, picking up speed.   
“Have you even eaten today?” he asked, easily keeping up with her.   
She stopped in her tracks, “You don’t know me, Seeley. We are not friends. Before yesterday the only thing you had ever said to me was ‘can I borrow a pencil’. Just because you saved me yesterday, does not mean that I am now your damsel in distress. I appreciate your help, but I have somewhere to be and I don’t need an escort causing me more trouble.”  
“Could we be?” he asked, ignoring ninety percent of her rant.   
“Could we be what?” she asked confused by his response.   
“Could we be friends?”  
“You don’t want to be my friend,” she shook her head.   
“But if I did, I mean you kind of saved my butt with that help on the chemistry test,” he admitted, trying to cox a smile.   
It worked, she grinned at him.   
“How did you do?”  
“I don’t know, we get them back Friday, but I feel pretty good about it. I knew a lot of the answers without guess like I usually do.”  
“Well, that is wonderful, Seeley. I suppose I could help you study at least. We could see where that takes us,” she was still grinning with pride.   
“One thing though, if we are going to be friends, you gotta call me Booth. I hate being called Seeley,” he smiled back at her.   
“I can accept those terms, Booth,” she said, as if trying the unfamiliar name on her tongue and finding it pleasant.   
“Great, now are you going to tell me where we are headed?” he asked as they turned another corner.   
“I am going to Mrs. Abramovic’s house, to help her with some chores, and you are going to go do whatever you do in the morning before school.”  
“Mrs. Abramovic, the lunch lady?” he asked.  
“Yes, she mentioned needing some help around the house, and I offered to help.”  
“Sure you don’t want some company?” he questioned. “I brought breakfast?”  
“You can come if it want, I guess,” she finally agreed, as she walked up the steps of Mrs. Abramovic’s house. “But please behave, I need this job.”  
Booth looked at her for a moment, as they waited for someone to answer the door. She looked the same as ever, and yet something had changed. There was a brokenness about her that was usually better hidden. Her skin was paler than usual and her cheek bone more pronounced than he remembered. Before he could find anything else though, the door opened and they were set to work.


	4. Diligence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Homework at Booth's house. Plus grilled cheese!

“Come on Booth, you know this,” Temperance cajoled him.  
“I can’t read this page again, Temperance, can’t we take a break?” he whined, flipping his book closed.   
“I have to be home in” she checked her watch, “less than an hour. We really should finish this chapter if you want to be ready for class.”   
That day after school, they agreed to hang out at Booth’s house to begin studying. They had been at it for an hour when Booth’s little brother Jared came home.   
“Seeley, I’m STRAVING,” Jared whined as he came into the kitchen, only to realize his brother wasn’t alone. “Whose she?”  
“I will make a snack right now, Jared. This is Temperance. I know her from school, and she is the Colter’s foster daughter. Temperance, this is my baby brother Jared,” Booth said by way of introduction, hoping his brother would take his abruptness as a cue to leave them alone.   
“You have a weird name,” Jared said, eyeing Temperance with unease.   
“Temperance means moderation or self-restraint. Did you know that the name Jared comes from the Bible? It means descending, derived from Jordan, Jared was a descendant of Judah,” she replied, unsure what else to say.  
“You’re weird,” Jared whined.   
“Jared,” his brother interrupted, “Apologize to Temperance and get out of here. I’ll bring your snack to the living room in a minute.”  
“Sorry, Tempe,” Jared said. Though it was clear to Booth that Jared wasn’t sorry at all, he wasn’t in the mood to fight with the little twerp.   
“Go watch TV while I make you a snack, then homework,” Booth said. Once Jared had run out, Booth turned back to temperance. “Are you sure I can’t make you one of my world famous grilled cheese sandwiches?”  
“No, thanks, I am going to keep working on this,” she said, gesturing to the book in front of her.   
“Aren’t you hungry though?” he asked. She paused trying deny it, but her stomach gurgling gave her away.   
“I could eat, but we have to keep studying,” she insisted.   
“Of course, you quiz, I cook,” he grinned, moving through the kitchen gathering supplies. “Sorry about Jared. He has a big mouth.”  
“I’m used to it. When you go around with a name like Temperance, you hear it all,” she shrugged, as she flipped through her hand written flash cards.  
“I know what you mean, there is a reason I ask people not to call me Seeley,” Booth laughed.   
“Seeley is a fine name. It means blessed, which I think is fitting for you. Did you know that Dr. Seeley Mudd was one of America’s first cardiologists, and that he donated over 10 million dollars to the betterment of higher learning institutions?”   
“I can’t say that I knew any of that, but did you know that your foot is as long as your arm from your elbow to your wrist?” Booth asked trying to change the subject.  
“I did know that, but now I think it is time to continue studying,” she smiled at his obvious distraction technique. “What is the difference between a compound and a mixture?”   
“Umm, can I get a hint?” Booth asked as he flipped several sandwiches onto plates and placed one in front of her.   
“A mixture is like this sandwich. The different ingredients are all put together but we can still easily pick out each of them and they retain their essential properties. A compound is like a cake. All the ingredients are combined in such a way that their previous structure is completely changed. The compound takes on its own characteristics,” she explained.   
“I get it,” he said, sounding somewhat amazed. Booth delivered Jared his afternoon snack and then sat at the table as Temperance went over every possible fact she thought might be on the test. Then she helped him with the dishes, before she headed back to the Colter’s knowing for once she wouldn’t go to sleep with an empty stomach.


	5. Ambition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Booth finds out what Bren does in her spare time.

“Where ya been, Bones? I haven’t seen you all week?” Booth asked as she walked out of Mrs. Christensen’s British Literature class Friday afternoon.  
“Hello, Booth. Please, don’t call me Bones, and I have been busy,” she said as she walked down the hall to her locker.   
“Well Coach gave us a rest day, so I thought we could walk home together. I got Indiana Jones on VHS,” he offered peeking over her shoulder to inspect her locker. It was papered in sticky notes with ‘examined the calcaneus of raccoon, compare to squirrel and rabbit’ and ‘tell Mr. Schmit about the article in physics month, i.e. hadron collider.’   
“I’m sorry, Booth. I can’t come over today. I have math club, errands to run for Mrs. Abramovic and then I am watching some younger kid that the Colter’s got last week,” she said in a rush as she shoved books in her bag.   
“Well, you could bring the kid with you. How old is he? Maybe he and Jared could hang out, or he could just watch the movie with us,” Booth offered, surprised at her lack of interest. Most of the girls he knew would have jumped at the invitation.  
“Lance is 7, but I don’t think he and Jared would get along. Lance is pretty quiet.”  
“Ok, you know where to find me if you change your mind,” he called to her as she walked away.   
She didn’t come over that night. When he looked through her window, she was sitting on her bed with a tiny dark haired child on her lap, reading a book that looked like it belonged in the reference section of the library. The next morning, he decided to get in a run before school.   
As he ran down 4th avenue, he saw her pulling a wagon filled with newspapers. On closer inspection the boy from the night before was sitting in the wagon, handing her papers, which she threw at houses as they walked. He was surprised at the accuracy of her seemingly thoughtless throws. Each on landed effortlessly on the doormat.   
“Good morning, Bones,” he called as he came up beside them. “And you must be Lance.”  
“Good morning, Booth. And again, just because I dressed up like a skeleton for Halloween, doesn’t mean I appreciate being called Bones,” she rolled her eyes and moved to the next house.   
“Who are you?” the boy in the wagon asked.  
“I’m Booth. Bones and I know each other from school,”  
“Oh, there is a boy name Booth at my school. He smashed my pencil on the bus yesterday,” the boy said sadly.   
“I’m real sorry about that bud. I will make sure he doesn’t bother you anymore, and I will get you a new pencil. How does that sound?”  
“Really?” the boy asked excitedly. Booth nodded. “Wow, Booth. You are the coolest. Do you like comic books? I have a comic book in my bag. It is Superman. He is the coolest too. I bet you would like him.”  
Temperance smiled as Booth listened to Lance’s endless praise of Superman. She had spent almost a week with the boy and he had never talked this much. She was proud of the way Booth dealt with the situation with Jared. She had been afraid to mention it to him when Lance told her about the older boy bullying him. Still for all Booth’s appearance of being an unfeeling jock, he never showed her that side of himself. With her, he was sweet, caring and considerate. She was so distracted by her thoughts that she missed it completely, when Booth asked her a question.   
“Tempe! Booth wants to know why we are out here delivering papers,” Lance whined.   
“I am saving money, and I thought the fresh air would do Lance here some good,” she answered, ruffling the boy’s hair.   
“Whatcha saving up for? A car?” Booth asked.  
“Actually a microscope. An Omax 40x-2000x lab grade microscope. I have been picking up little jobs here and there and I should have enough money by Christmas,” she answered excitedly.   
“Oh yeah, and how much is that going to set you back?”  
“With shipping, $500,” she said proudly. She had been working hard for months to save this money, skipping meals and wearing the same shoes with a hole in the toe from over a month, but she knew it would be worth it.   
Booth gave a slow whistle. “Heck, you might as well have saved for a car.”  
“I suppose, but when I go to college, I will have much more use for a microscope, than a car. Also you can’t get your driver’s license without a parent or guardian’s signature until you are an adult, so a car really doesn’t do me much good.”  
“Wow, that sucks. I can’t imagine not being able to drive,” Booth sighed. He had stopped thinking of her as a foster kid recently. The reminder was not a welcome one.   
“It’s fine,” she laughed. “I can walk or take the bus anywhere I need to go, and the exercise is nice.”  
“I’m hungry,” Lance called from the wagon.   
“Only a few more houses to go, and then we will stop by the 7-11 and you can get a piece of fruit and some cereal,” Temperance promised.  
“Whatever I want?” Lance asked excitedly.  
“Within reason,” she replied. He had earned his share of her paper money, but the real reason she brought him ago was to keep him away from the Colter’s and make sure he had a good breakfast before school. “No more of those Lucky charms, they are all sugar.”  
Lance made a face.  
“But Bones, Lucky Charms are the best. All the kids are jealous when you tell them you had lucky charms for breakfast,” Booth whined.   
“They won’t be jealous of his decreased IQ and propensity for illness due to lack of proper vitamins and nutrients.”  
“Just this once?” Booth begged, his eyes seeming to grow impossibly large.  
“Yeah, Tempe, just this once?” Lance begged, making his face match Booth’s.   
“Ugh, just this once, but you have to finish your fruit first, drink all you milk, and take your vitamin when you get home,” she answered as they came up one the 7-11. The boys cheered as they went into the store to get their treats. If she was honest with herself, it was Booth’s argument that letting Lance have the cereal would make him popular was what sealed her decision. She knew what it was like to be scorned by your peers for being different, and she wanted to shield Lance from that in any way possible.   
As they walked back to their houses, they feel into easy conversation, discussing the Homecoming festivities and Bones’s ideas on how Booth could improve his perfect spiral.


	6. Sacrifice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Booth goes to a party, things don't end well.

If Booth saw less of his new friend, at least now he knew why. She made a point of getting together with him at least once a week to help him study, though sometimes Booth won and they would watch a movie instead. He always made sure that she ate while she was over, and never complained about Lance tagging along. In all honesty, he had plenty of thing to keep him busy between school, football and his contentious home life.  
“Hey Booth, I’m having a party this weekend. Are you gonna bring that weird Goth chick you hang with?” Bobby Kent asked in the locker room on afternoon after practice.   
“Temperance?” he asked in surprise.  
“Yeah, I think that’s her name. Anyway, if you aren’t into Regina anymore you need to let me know, because that girl is just my type,” Booby whistled wolfishly.   
“Bones is not… she isn’t that type of girl. She just helps me with my homework, because Mr. Schmitz is being a dick lately. I am going to ask the Regina to the party,” Booth answers. He feels a little bad about denying their friendship, but he doesn’t want his team sniffing around her. He meant it when he said she was not that kind of girl.   
At lunch, he saw her reading alone at a table in the far corner. He started to walk toward her when Regina walked up to him.  
“Did you hear about Bobby’s party?” she asked, her eyes dancing with excitement.   
“Yeah. In fact, I was going to ask if you wanted to go with me?” He asked right back, turning on the patented Booth charm.   
“Hmmm, let me think…” she dragged the words out licking her lips.   
“You know you want to,” he drawled slowly, adding a wink for good measure.   
“Seeley Booth, you are entirely too sexy for your own good,” she laughed. “Pick me up at 8.”  
By the time the exchange was over, Bones had slipped out of the cafeteria. He didn’t see her again until Friday morning. He was out for a morning run, when she came walking up 6th avenue. He wouldn’t have even recognized her, if she hadn’t been pulling her paper wagon. She looked incredible. Her face was unnaturally smooth, her eyes were brilliant, and her lips were as red as blood.   
“Wow, Bones!” he called as he ran up to her. “You look amazing today.”  
She scowled, “It is simply the addition of makeup, Booth. Your brain has been trained by western standards of beauty to recognize the appeal of my symmetrical features.”  
Booth didn’t know what to say. His eyes moved past her to the wagon where Lance was curled up with a blanket sleeping.   
“Looks like the boy isn’t earning his keep,” he joked.   
“He had a rough night,” she answered defensively, picking up the pace as she moved down the side walk.  
“Hey,” he called grabbing her arm to keep her from leaving, but the second his touched her she flinched noticeably. Booth’s hand dropped and he swallowed thickly. They both knew that each other’s home life was less than ideal, but they never talked about it.   
“Do you want some help?” he asked softly.  
“I can manage. You should go home if you intend to shower before school,” she answered, adjusting the blanket on Lance before she grabbed another paper from the wagon.   
“Are you sure?”  
“Yes, Booth, I’ll see you at school.” She gave him a weak smile as she tuned on Oak Street. He didn’t see her at school that day. She didn’t stop by after school. His dad got home at 5:30 and at 5:35 he was in front of the tv with a glass of whiskey in his hand. By 7:30 he was passed out in the den.   
Booth gave him a gentle shake, “Hey Dad, I have a date. Can I borrow the car?”  
“Don’t scratch it or I’ll kill ya,” Eddie mumbled turning into the couch. Knowing that was as close to yes as he would get, Booth grabbed the keys off the table and headed to Regina.   
The party was awesome. Bobby’s parents had a big screen TV with surround sound and a Jacuzzi. Booth had a beer, but he knew he was driving so he didn’t have more than that. Regina however decided to drink anything anyone handed her, meaning by the time he carried her out to the car at nearly midnight, she was fall down drunk.   
“Come on Booth,” she slurred trying to climb in his lap as he drove do the sleepy streets of suburbia. “I know you want me.”   
“I’m trying to drive, Regina,” he sighed tiredly.  
“I could help,” she offered tugging on the wheel. Before he could react, she had jerked the car off the road. He heard the screech of metal and metal and groaned.  
He is going to kill me, he thought as he got out of the car to assess the damage. Regina followed him out, but promptly started throwing up in a nearby bush. On the ground lay the speed limit sign. Thankfully the scratch was small, but there was no chance his father wouldn’t notice it. He starred at the scratch until Regina joined him.  
“What happened?” she asked, looking up at him with glassy eyes.  
“Nothing,” he sighed. “Come on, let’s get you home.”  
The drive from Regina’s house to his went by entirely too quickly. He prayed that his father was still passed out on the couch. He knew he would be punished, but he hoped that is would wait until the morning. As he pulled in, he noted that a dim glow was still shining in the den window.   
“Hey Booth,” Temperance smiled as she walked out his back door with Lance at her side.  
“Hey, Bones, Lancelot, what are you doing at my house?” he asked.   
“The Colters went out for the night, and Jared was lonely. So we went over to keep him company,” Lance answered happily. Booth’s shoulder dropped. He was out drinking and going to a party, while she was at home hanging out with his kid brother.   
“You look stressed Booth. Did your date go badly?” Bones asked. He noted that she seemed genuinely concerned where most girls would have asked with a more catty tone.   
“I scratched the car,” he sighed. “My dad is going to kill me.”  
He noted that Lance immediately disappeared behind Bones.   
“Lance go get in bed, I’m going to see if I can help Booth and then I will come tuck you in.”   
The boy followed directions while Booth walked around to where the scratch was. Bones followed. She looked at it from all angles before her shoulders dropped.   
“I sorry, Booth. I don’t think I can fix it,” she sighed.   
“That’s alright it was a long shot anyway,” he shrugged. They were still starring at it when the back door slammed open.   
“Did you have a good time, Son?” Eddie asked calmly as he walked down the steps.   
“Yes, sir,” Booth answered robotically.  
“You thought you could pull a fast one on your dad,” Eddie laughed humorlessly.   
“No, sir.’  
“No, sir? Was that not you who waited to ask for the keys until I was half asleep after a long day’s work? Work, I might add, that feed you and that ungrateful brother of yours,” he boomed growing louder with each word.   
“It was,” Booth said quietly.  
“And where were you on your little outing?” Eddie asked as he started to walk around the car.   
Before he could answer his father’s eyes fell on the scratch. In an instant Eddie was moving toward Booth. He closed his eyes and braced for the impact he knew was coming, but something stopped it. He heard something hit the ground hard. When looked down, to his surprise Temperance was clutch her face trying to get to her feet between him and his father.   
“I’m so sorry Mr. Booth,” she said calmly. “I was just explaining to your son how I scratched your car earlier with bike.”  
“Bones,” Booth gasped quietly trying to move in front of her, but she refused to move.   
“I can pay for the damage,” she promised, trying to distract the madman from his son.   
“Can you now, missy? That looks like about $500 dollars’ worth of damage. You got that kind of money laying around? Cause I know those no good foster parents of your ain’t gonna shell out a dime,” Eddie growled.   
“I have it. I can pay,” she said pulling out her wallet to show quite a bit of money. Eddie grabbed the stack of bills.   
“This should cover it,” he laughed, turning toward the house. “And I better not ever see you near my car again Missy.”  
The back door slammed again marking Eddie’s departure.   
“That was a lot of heart, Bones. I… you shouldn’t have done that for me. I was ready to pay the price. It was my stupid actions that led to the scratch.’  
“Friends help each other,” she said simply, turning to head home. Her words stabbed him in the gut. He mind went back to the locker room where he had denied their friendship. She had taken a punch from him, given up her life’s savings from him, and he couldn’t even admit they were friends.   
“Wait, let me get you some ice or something,” he called after her. “That is going to look like hell in the morning.”  
“Don’t worry,” she called back from her own porch. “That is what makeup is for.”  
Just like that, her back door closed and he was left to think about what else she might be hiding under long sleeves and makeup.


	7. Amends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How will Booth make amends for his father, and for allowing Bren to give up on her goals?

Amends   
Over the next few weeks Booth watched Temperance carefully. She wore thick makeup for the first week, but he never commented on it. When she failed to come over that week, he chalked it up to the altercation with his father and begrudgingly admitted that she might not want to spend time with him after his had put her in such a bad situation. He wanted to make it up to her, but he didn’t know how. Nothing he could do would make it right.   
One morning he waited for her at the end of her driveway. She was so wrapped up in whatever she was reading to she didn’t notice him until she nearly walked right into him.   
“Booth,” she mumbled, forcing a smile before she started her walk to school.   
“Morning, Bones, I… uh…” His hand scratched back of his neck as he stalled, not sure where to begin.   
“I’m sorry Booth, I have a lot of reading to do. Can we talk later?” she asked not looking up from the text in her hands. He read over her shoulder.   
“Our school doesn’t offer an anatomy class,” Booth commented.   
“Yes, I am well aware of that fact, however I have been doing an independent study program through Northwestern University. I am trying to graduate early so I can get emancipated and go to college early.”  
“Wow, what do you do in your spare time?” Booth joked. Every time he thought he knew everything about her, he learned something that made her seem even more super human.   
“In my spare time, I working on an idea for a novel,” she answered.  
“Seriously?”  
“Umm, it’s just an idea. It’s not really developed yet. Mrs. Christianson says my writing lacks emotion,” she shrugged indifferently.   
“I’m sure it is great. Maybe you could let me read what you have so far,” he offered.   
“Oh no, it’s not ready yet. You will have to wait until it is properly edited and published.”  
“All right then,” he laughed, rolling his eyes. “Are you excited for Christmas?”  
The moment the word was out of his mouth she stiffened.  
“The idea that we are forced by convention to exchange meaningless gifts is ridiculous,” she mumbled suddenly walking fast as if to get away from him.  
“Come on, Bones. It’s Christmas. It’s Jesus’s birthday. A day to celebrate peace on Earth and good will toward men,” he tried to reason with her, increasing his own pace to keep up with her.   
“Many studies show that the man Christians refer to as Jesus was actually born in the spring.” Booth rolled his eyes again. The few times he had talked about his faith, it always needed in an argument. “My Pops and Grandma are coming to visit. We Booth’s love Christmas. We do it all the real tree, the carols, My Grandma makes the most amazing pop overs Christmas morning and for dinner prime rib and twice baked potatoes. If the Colter’s aren’t that into it you and Lance could come over to our place.”  
“I’m not sure if that’s a good idea Booth,” she said quietly.   
“Bones, I know you probably never want to be around my family again, but I can promise you that you will be safe,” he sighed. It was not the first time he had reason to be ashamed of his family, and he knew it wouldn’t be the last.   
“It’s not me, Booth. I have dealt with a lot worse than the likes of your father in my life, but Lance heard your father and came to check on me. Since then he has been having nightmares again. I don’t know if it is really a good idea to put him in a situation that might bring up things from his past.”  
Booth’s heart stopped in his chest. He hadn’t even considered the fact that he hadn’t seen the small boy since that night.   
“It’s not your fault, Booth,” Temperance sighed, turning to look him in the eye for the first time. “You are not responsible for the actions of your father or the things that Lance has been through. We foster kids always have things we keep hidden. I will talk to him, maybe we can at least come for dinner.”  
“If there's anything I can do…”   
“It's fine, really. I have to get to class, but I will try to come by sometime this week,” she promised, giving a half hearted smile as she walked away.   
Then and there Booth swore to himself that he would make this the best Christmas yet. He would have to convince Jared to find out what Lance wanted from Santa. Then talk to Pops about a loan. There was a lot to plan with not much time.   
Temperance and Lance came over Friday afternoon. Lance was a little skittish, but Bones had rented one of his favorite movies from the library. Soon they all sat on the couch eating a huge bowl of popcorn and watching something called Doctor Who. Booth didn't really understand what they were laughing about, but he was happy to see them enjoying the movie.   
Saturday Pops and Gram arrived. Booth had always been close to his grandparents. They were the only people he could really count on after his mother left, not to mention his father stayed relatively sober while they were visiting. After church on Sunday morning, Pops asked Booth to help him with a special project for Gram.   
They had been out in the shed for almost an hour sanding a new birdhouse, when Pop asked the question he asked every year.   
“So Shrimp, what’s your Christmas wish this year?”   
Booth shuffled nervously, he had thought about this conversation a lot in the last few weeks, but he still didn’t want to admit what he had done. Hank noticed the boys unusual reluctance.   
“Just tell me, son. You can't receive what you don't ask for.”   
“I know Pops, the thing is I did something a few weeks ago that I'm not proud of. I hurt a friend and I allowed her to take responsibility for something that was my fault,” Booth sighed, bracing himself for a lecture, but his grandfather surprised him by asking one simple question.  
“Did you make it right?” He asked calmly.  
Booth shrugged. “I can't make it right, not on my own. I tried to make it up to her, but I cost her something that she had been saving for all year.”   
“Have you considered trying to earn the money to pay her back?”  
“I’ve tried, but it was a lot of money and I am running out of time if I want to get it for her for Christmas.”   
“How short are you?” Pops asked.   
“I’ve got $200 so far, but I'm still $300 short. I know that's a lot of money, but you could consider it a loan. I have been teaching private dance lessons at the community center. I should have enough by Easter to pay you back” Booth offered knowing this was his last chance to give Temperance the Christmas she deserves.   
“Well. Shrimp, I will have a talk with Gram and see if we can swing it. I want you to know that I am happy you are trying to make someone else’s holiday special.”   
The next morning he and Pops went to the mall to buy a new microscope. While he was there he also got the new Harry Potter book and a new sweater for Lance, and a gameboy games for Jared. Hank watched his grandson with pride. Seeley had always had a big heart, but it seemed like this year he was really growing into the man Hank had prayed he would become. He took the time to pick a small gift for the boy, after all Christmas was always a magical time in the Booth house.


	8. Tolerance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas Eve Day - both an eve and a day.

On Christmas Eve Booth woke up late. He always slept more soundly when his grandparents were visiting. Making his way to the kitchen, he found Gram mixing dough for tea rings. Pops was reading the paper and humming along to the Christmas song on the radio.  
“Morning Shrimp, got any big plans today?” Pops asked.  
“I was thinking about going for a run, since the weather is pretty warm today. Then I'll come back and help Gram.”  
“That’s my boy,” Gram grinned, kissing his cheek.  
“He just wants to eat the leftovers,” Pops joked. Booth rolled his eyes. Pops made that joke every year. He nabbed a bit a few pieces of bacon on his way out the door. He had been jogging for a few minutes when he passed the neighborhood playground. It was usually pretty quiet this time of year, but he noticed a girl sitting on the swings. When he looked closer, he realized it was Temperance. Curious, he jogged over and sat down on the swing next to hers.  
“Hey beautiful, what’s a dame like you doing in a place like this?” he asked in his old movie star voice that always made her laugh.  
“Hey Booth, just wanted to get away. You know how it goes,” she mumbled.  
He did, of course. He sat for a few minutes hoping she would tell him what was wrong, but being patient went against his nature. He drumming on his legs, when he noticed she was holding a small wrapped gift.  
“Whatcha got there? Hope you’re not peeking before christmas,” he teased.  
She didn’t laugh or correct him as he hoped she would. Instead, she just kept turning the package in her hands as if it held the secrets of the universe.  
Finally, she spoke. “My parents disappeared two years ago… a week before Christmas. It was a totally normal day. My parents went out to run errands, and never came back. This is one of the presents that was already under the tree. I’ve never been able to bring myself to open it.”  
That explains a lot, Booth thought. Not sure what to say, he reached over and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. She startled slightly, but didn’t pull away.  
After a few minutes, he let go. “Come on, Bones. You’re going to catch your death if you stay out here much longer, and I want you to meet my grandparents.”  
They walked to Booth’s house in companionable silence. She slipped into the Coulter’s to get Lance, when they got home. The Booth’s greeted the newcomers warmly and Gram immediately dragged Lance into the kitchen to feed him.  
Once everyone had enjoyed a delicious breakfast, they got started on the tea rings. It was a Booth family tradition. Every year they baked tea rings for their neighbors, and delivered them on their way to mass. Booth tired to tell Temperance that she didn’t have to help, but she insisted that she didn’t mind.  
In fact, both Temperance and Lance enjoyed themselves very much. It reminded them what it was like to be part of a real family. Eddie and Jared spent most of the day on the couch watching football, which suited everyone just fine.  
When the last tea ring was wrapped and ready to go, Temperance tried to excuse herself.  
“It has been lovely, but the Coulter’s insist that we are home for dinner by six,” she explained.  
“I hope you’ll consider joining us for mass,” Joan Booth said.  
Temperance froze. The honest warmth in the woman’s voice made it hard for Temperance to outright refuse, so she said, ”I will check with the Coulter’s.”  
“Wonderful,” the older woman beamed, wrapping Temperance in a tight hug. Temperance felt a little uncomfortable, but once she relaxed and hugged Joan back, it was difficult to let go. After what felt like hours, Joan released her and turned to Lance, who practically launched himself into Joan’s arms. She laughed, stroked his hair, whispered something in his ear, and then pressed a kiss to his cheek.  
After a few more minutes they were ready to go. She was almost to the door, when Hank Booth called her back.  
“Don’t fall for it. He is messing with you,” Booth said, rolling his eyes. She looked between the two and then walked back to where Hank was sitting in the living room.  
“What can I do for you, Mr. Booth?” she asked politely.  
The old man’s eyes twinkled. “How far would you have been if I hadn’t called you back here?”  
She didn’t understand at first, but then she laughed too. It reminded her of something her father might do. “I really have to go now,” she said with a wistful smile.  
“Of course, Sweetheart. We will see you tonight,” Hank agreed, happy that he had been able to use his favorite joke on a new person.  
The warmth and light of the Booth’s home was a stark contrast from the Coulter’s home. They only ran the heat in rooms they used, and Temperance knew better than to spend time in those areas. Instead, she and Lance curled up in her bed with both of their thin blankets and each other to keep warm.  
At 11:45, she put on her best clothes and snuck out of the house. Though she didn’t believe in Booth’s god, his family had been kind to her, and she felt it was the least she could do. When she got to the church, most people were already seated. Temperance slipped into the crowded pew next to Booth, trying not to draw too much attention. Booth smiled at her, but the choir was already singing the opening hymn so there was no time for conversation  
As she sat in the church surrounded by people singing and celebrating, she understood the attraction. The church was beautiful. Candlelight flickered off of stain glass. The scent of frankincense was pleasant. The choir sang with excitement and infectious joy. She tried to sneak a peek at Booth, but when she looked over he was already grinning at her. She blushed and looked back at the choir.  
When mass was over, Joan and Hank thanked her for coming. Eddie mumbled something that sounded like merry christmas, and Jared asked if she had gotten him a present. Booth hushed his brother.  
“Come on, Bones. I’ll walk you home.”  
They had walked for a few minutes, when they both started to talk at once.  
“It was great of you to come…” “It was a beautiful service…”  
Booth laughed and started again. “I know it means a lot to My grandparents. They really like you.”  
“I like them to.”  
“I love Christmas Eve. It’s a day for miracles.”  
“Did you know that silent night was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 in Oberndorf, Germany?”  
“I didn’t. Did you know that I can sing Oh Come all ye Faithful in the original latin?”  
“Really?” she asked in genuine surprise. She did not take Booth for someone who would study latin.  
“It’s kind of an alter boy requirement,” he explained. “I know a few other phrases too, but not enough to be considered fluent.”  
“That still rather impressive.”  
“Will we see you guys in the morning?” he asked as they turned on to their block.  
Temperance looked down at the sidewalk. She was embarrassed to admit that it was not in her control. She was never sure what would set off Mr. Coulter. As for Mrs. Coulter she seemed to be happy as long as the chores were done and she didn’t have to see Temperance or Lance.  
“I’ll try,” she said, hoping Booth wouldn’t push her. He didn’t. After everything he had seen, he knew that she would come if she was able to. As she disappeared behind the house, he looked up at the sky and said a quick prayer for her. If anyone deserved a Christmas miracle, it was Temperance.


	9. Tolerance part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas with the Booth's.

She snuck into the house without making a sound. The dishes from a dinner she had not been invited to were piled high in the sink, so she got to work. Then she straightened the living room, collecting empty beer bottles, dirty socks and cigarette butts. Lastly, she started the laundry and folded what was in the dryer. She would have to wait until everyone was awake to put it away.  
Thinking of everyone still asleep, reminded her that she still had work to do. She slipped into her room and got a table top christmas tree from the closet where she had hidden it. She had helped Lance make some ornaments from paper and yarn before bed. They looked a little sad, but once she added some glow sticks, it started to look like a real tree.  
For all her talk about Christmas being silly, Temperance did not want Lance to miss out. She had even gotten him a small stocking and stuffed it with a few things. She hung the stocking on the end of the bed and put his gifts under the little tree, before climbing into bed.  
It felt like she had just fallen asleep, when she heard Lance.  
“Tempe, Tempe, Santa came this year! I must have finally been good enough. He really came!” the little boy was practically vibrating with excitement, but his voice was barley a whisper. Even on Christmas, he knew better than to make too much noise.  
“That’s wonderful, Lance. What did you get?” she asked, sitting up and rubbing the last remnants of sleep from her eyes.  
“I got a car and a candy cane and Dominos,” He said excitedly, but then he seemed to realize something and his face fell. “Santa forgot about you, Tempe.”  
“No, no, I am too old to get gifts from Santa,” Temperance assured him. He seemed suspicious, but then he remembered something else. He ran over to his backpack.  
“My teacher said we were supposed to give these to our moms, but since I don’t have a mom, I decided to give it to you,” he explained, handing her piece of tissue paper with tape sticking out at odd angles.  
She unwrapped the paper to find a popsicle stick picture frame with a picture of Lance.  
“I painted it myself. It’s ok if you don’t like it. I’m not a very good artist,” Lance said sadly.  
“No, it is very nice Lance. I think you did a very good job. It was sweet of you to think of me,” she said quickly. If she was honest, it was a little messy and the paint was uneven, but the fact that he had given her something meant more than anything. She pulled him into a tight hug so he wouldn’t see the tears she was fighting.  
Once she felt calm again she released him. “You should see what else Santa brought you.”  
While Lance opened the gifts under the tree, Temperance slipped downstairs. She made breakfast, put it on the tray, and walked back up the stairs with shaking hands. She wanted to give Lance a good Christmas and that meant she need the Coulters to let them out of the house. She knocked on the door and took a deep breath.  
“What?!” came the nasal voice of Mrs. Coulter.  
“It’s Temperance, I made you breakfast, and I have your laundry ready.”  
“Come in, and be quick about it,” the woman snapped. Temperance put the tray on the bed and quickly put the clothes away. Then she turned back to the bed.  
“I was wondering… um the thing is… Lance and I got our chores done, so…”  
“Spit it out!”  
“The Booth’s invited us to come over today. Can we go?”  
“Why would they want you invading their home?” Mr. Coulter asked suspiciously.  
“I don’t know,” Temperance answered. She honestly didn’t.  
“Well, if they’ll feed you two, they can have you. Just be home in time to clean up before bed.”  
Temperance nodded and left the room before they could changed their minds. She stopped in her room to get Lance and the gifts she had gotten for Booth and Jared. They knocked on the Booth’s door and were greeted by Joan Booth. She ushered them to the living room where the Booth boys each sitting in a pile of gifts.  
“Tempe,” Lance whispered. “Were you naughty? Booth got gifts from Santa and he is older than you.”  
“It’s complicated,” she whispered back. “Just be good, you don’t want them to send us back next door do you?”  
Lance shook his head.  
Joan heard the whole exchange and thought she would have to ask her grandson a few more questions about his new friends, but for now, she would make sure that they ate something.  
“Boys, our guests are here,” Joan announced.  
Booth’s head snapped to the door and he grinned. “Bones! Check it out! I got a Luc Robitaille Jersey!”  
Feeling awkward, Temperance shared the only thing she knew about hockey. “The first organized indoor hockey game was played March 3, 1875 at Montreal’s Victoria Skating Rink, between two teams with 9 players on each side.”  
“Is she always like this?” Hank asked. He was sipping coffee, sitting in one of the recliners. His wife smacked him with a dishtowel after she put down a tray of food on the coffee table.  
“Hank!” she scolded, but the Booth boys just grinned.  
“Bones always has the facts,” Booth explained proudly.  
“And she brought presents,” Jared added running over to see what she had brought him.  
Temperance blushed. With all the brightly colored wrapping paper and expensive gifts scattering the floor, she began to worry about what she had gotten them.  
“Remember your manners,” Joan said. “I bet these little angels haven’t even had breakfast yet. Let them sit and eat while you clean up all this mess.”  
The Booth boys did as they were told, while Lance snacked on homemade cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate. Joan fixed a plate and handed it to Temperance.  
“Eat before those boys finish. There will be no keep those wolves off of you when they are done,” she joked. It was true. As soon as the living room was clean Jared was squeezing onto the couch next to her, eyeing the presents she had brought. She handed him a package wrapped in brown paper.  
“Rockem Sockem Robots! Tempe, you remembered!”  
“Yes, well, you reminded me several times that it was what you wanted,” she said quietly.  
“I got you something too,” Jared said looking over at the large pine tree in the corner of the living room. He plucked a tiny pink package from the boughs and brought it to her. As Temperance carefully opened the paper, Jared said, “It’s Smurfette, because you know… you’re a girl and we watch smurfs sometimes, and you said you liked her.”  
“Thank you, Jared. That was very thoughtful.”  
“Seeley took me to the store and told me to pick something that made me think of you,” he shrugged, taking his present and heading out of the living room. She looked around to thank him also, but he wasn’t in the living room. He walked in a moment later carrying a large present, with two smaller ones stacked on top.  
“These are for you, Bud,” Booth handed the two smaller packages to Lance. “And this one is for you?”  
“Thanks, Booth!” Lance said as he tore into his packages excitedly, pulling on his sweater and launching himself into Booth’s arms. Temperance on the other hand, slowly balanced the package in her hands to judge it’s weight.  
“You’re supposed to open it, Bones,” Booth teased.  
“I know,” she huffed, running her fingers over the edges sand slowly pulling the tape from the paper. She was almost sure she knew what was inside, but it couldn’t be. It was impossible. As soon as the paper was removed she would be disappointed, except she wasn’t. As the paper fell to the floor, she starred at the box.  
“It’s the one you wanted right?” Booth asked nervously.  
“Christmas in the Booth house is a time for miracles,” he said grinning at her and then he turned to his grandfather and mouthed a quick thank you. Pops winked back proudly.  
“I don’t know what to say Booth. This is the most amazing gift I have ever received. Thank you.”  
“Christmas in the Booth house is a time for miracles,” he said grinning at her and then he turned to his grandfather and mouthed a quick thank you.  
“Come on, Squirt. Why don’t you and I go play game of dominos in the den?” Pops offered. Lance jumped off the unaware of the tension in the air. Pops gave Booth a pat on the shoulder as he left the room.  
“Booth, this is too much. I saved for months. How did you do it?”  
“It was the least I could do…”  
“The least you could do is nothing,” she said clearly confused.  
“OK, it was the right thing to do.”  
“But my gift is not as expensive or important.”  
“That’s not what gifts are about. It’s not a competition.”  
“Anthropologically speaking gifts are a way of asserting dominance in a group.”  
“So you want to dominate me?” he teased.  
She blushed, “No, it is just that my gift seems silly now.”  
“Let me be the judge of that.” He tore the paper open, ready to be politely excited, but inside a baseball. As he looked closer he saw it was sighed by Pete Rose, Tug Mcgraw, Mike Schmit, and Manny Trillo. “Is this what I think it is?”  
“You told me about the game you went to with your father, and…”  
“But the autographs? How did you even get them all?”  
“I didn't. I couldn't track down Steve Carlton, but I hope you still like it.”  
“Like it? I love it! This is amazing. I mean, some of these guys aren’t even playing any more.”  
“Yes… well… I may have found out where Pete Rose lived and waited outside of a gas station in his neighborhood for a few days after school.”  
“You stalked Pete Rose?”  
“No, I was in a place he frequents with the intention of seeing him,” she said as if it were completely reasonable.  
Booth shook his head. “So what are you going to look at first?” He asked gesturing to the microscope in her lap.  
“I was planning to make slides of the water in the drinking fountain to prove it was the source of the flu everyone was been getting,” she said excitedly.  
Booth made a mental note to bring water from home, as she went on about the difference between this strain of influenza and last years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was having a heck of a time working this one out. I hope you all catch the references to different Christmas episodes. And if you haven't seen the Man from UNCLE go watch it! I spent most of tuesday watching and rewatching.... I May have an obsession


	10. Humility

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That sound haunted his nightmares

After Christmas things went back to normal, or at least what passed for normal in their world. Booth and Temperance went back to school. They worked when they needed to. They spent time at his place after school when they could, though Booth rarely needed help with his homework anymore. Temperance was pleased to find Booth was more than just a jock. He was smarter than he liked to let on and he had a way of reading people that she truly admired.   
She saw him in the cafeteria with the other football players and cheerleaders, being a typical alpha male, but she also saw him helping one of the kids in the robotics club carry in his science project. She saw how he was with Jared, firm and yet loving. When he sat listening to Lance talk about Pokemon, he had the patience of a saint. He knew what people needed to bring out their best. Perhaps most telling was the way he handled his father, when he came home in the middle of the afternoon barely able to stand.   
Booth immediately stepped in front of her and the boys, but kept himself sightly slumped so that he was a not towering over his father. He spoke calmly, while Temperance ushered the boys out of the den. Once they were out of harms way, he ushered his father to the older man’s favorite chair and offered to bring him some food. Mr. Booth was snoring before the kitchen door closed.   
While Temperance was watching him, Booth was watching her. He saw her tutoring freshman in the library during lunch. He saw how she spoke kindly to the janitors and lunch ladies. He saw her move through crowds like a ghost. No one ever spoke to her. He wondered how it was possible that no one else had noticed her quiet beauty. Maybe it was someone that most kids in high school didn’t recognize.   
The Temperance that he knew argued with teachers and corrected his grammar with absolute certainty, but he had seen her other side to. He had watched her make herself invisible. She flinched and cowered and made herself small and quiet. He hated that he had seen it, hated even more that she had to live like that.   
He started to walk into school with her in the mornings, introduced her to his friends. He made a point of stopping at her locker to chat between passing periods. Then one day she went missing. She should have been coming out of English class, and he thought he would catch her in the hall to walk together to chemistry, but she wasn’t there. He knew she had come to school, which meant something must have happened to her.   
He sat in chemistry for a full fifteen minutes, watching the door like a hawk, but she never came. Finally, he complained of a headache and asked to be sent to the nurse. She had to be there, but she wasn’t. He was walking slowly back to class when he heard it.   
click, click, click, clank, click, click, clank, click...  
He spun around. It couldn’t be. The sound was hauntingly familiar. His nightmares replayed it often enough. The exact same discordant notes he had heard the night he truly met her for the first time.   
“Bones?” He questioned the seemingly empty hallway.  
The sound stopped. His eyes narrowed, taking in his surroundings. Only then did he realize that he was in the hallway where her locker was. He moved closer to her locker.   
“Bones?”   
Nothing, but his gut still wouldn’t let him leave. He put his ear to the door, praying he wasn’t right.   
“Bones?”   
A sigh came from inside.   
“I know you’re in there. Tell me the combination so I can let you out.”  
“The sharing of lockers, locker combinations, and other school issued materials, is strictly forbidden by the student code of conduct section 3 paragraph 5,” she said.  
“I could go get the Mr. Buxley, but then you’d have to explain how you ended up in there.”  
“38-24-18”  
He shoulders slumped as he worked the lock. A flash of the memories flickered in the back of his mind. Her terrified voice in the trunk of that car, the sound of his father’s fist connecting with her face, faded hand prints on her arm and other random bruises in various degrees of healing. The door squeaked as it swung open and she blinked owlishly at the sudden bright lights.   
“We are late. We should get to class,” she said, stepping out of the locker, grabbing her bag and taking off down the hall as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.   
He caught up to her in 3 large strides. “Are you going to tell me what happened?”  
“No.”  
“No?”  
“No.”   
“Why?”  
She sighed. “We can be friends, Booth, but I can’t let you keep being my knight. I have to take care of myself.”  
“Are you going to tell anyone?”  
“It will be dealt with,” she answered cryptically, before walking into chemistry. She knew who was responsible. She knew that if she told Booth he would try to make it right, but the truth was she didn’t want him to. She was starting to trust him, and she hadn’t trusted anyone since Russ left her in front of the group home. It was terrifying, more terrifying than the Regina convincing a wrestler to shove her into her locker. If it hadn’t been from Regina’s parting taunt, Temperance might have actually pulled away from Booth.   
Regina’s sickly sweet voice rang in her ear. “Stay away from Booth. He’s my boyfriend!”   
Temperance didn’t like being pushed around, so when Booth invited her to his house to watch Boris Karloff’s Mummy, she looked right at Regina as she agreed.


	11. Respect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Old scars reopen.

Booth liked to believe that he was a good guy.That said, locker room talk was just one of those things that happened. He participated when he had something to share. The guys had heard all about his ‘dates’ with Regina. He took solace in the fact that every time he walked past Regina and her girlfriends in the hall they all suppressed giggles. Clearly, he wasn’t the only one who talked.   
His friendship with Bones though, that was sacred. So, when Eric Henderson asked him about her, he responded with vague politeness. When pressed, he said she didn’t date. It wasn’t technically a lie. He had never heard of her going on a date in all the time he had known her, but he still felt the need to confess after he said it.   
He wanted Bones to make friends, but the idea of her being groped under the bleachers by Eric, made his stomach turn. He didn’t examine that reaction too closely though. If he did, he might not be able to keep denying his growing feelings. Still, the guilt burned in his chest until he couldn’t ignore it anymore.  
They were sitting on the couch watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Bones was rolling her eyes and pointing out every anachronism.   
“He is speaking hindi. If, and I am just saying if, we are to believe this is a ‘magical’ stone from ancient India, it would respond to Sanskrit not hindi.”  
“Well, if we are going to get technical, Wu Han’s revolver is wrong too,” Booth shrugged.   
“Really?”  
“Yeah, he has a Smith & Wesson model 10, which is technically possible, but extremely unlikely. The sight, however, is from the model 10-1 not released until 1959.”  
She looked at him sideways from a moment. He could tell she was trying to tell if he was lying, but he knew he was right, and it read in his eyes. Eventually, she nodded, made a slight hum and turned back to the screen.   
That was what made him ask. She trusted him. If anyone else had made the claim, she would have insisted on checking it out for herself, but she trusted him, and he knew he wasn’t quite worthy of that trust.   
So, he hit pause. She turned back looking confused.   
“We have a few more minutes before the boys get home,” she said, double checking her watch to be sure.   
“I know, but I wanted to ask you something…”  
“What?”  
Her curious, open expression made him second guess himself. “Do you… I mean, someone… Eric, Eric Henderson, I think he is in your econ class, but he umm, asked me and…”  
“Booth! Just ask me,” she said putting a hand on his to steady him.   
“Do you want to date?” he asked, the words coming out in one breath. She snatched her hand back and stood suddenly, a blush quickly blooming on her cheeks.   
“I think I heard a car. I need to go. I shouldn’t…” She was walking backward as she spoke. Her eyes darting around like a spooked deer.   
“Bones… Temperance, I didn’t mean…” He reached for her, caught her arm gently, just trying to keep her from running, but the second his hand touched her, she jerked away, slipping on the kitchen’s slick linoleum. The back of her head hit the edge of the table as she fell. Like it was in slow motion surprise, pain and fear flickered across her face, before her eyes fluttered shut. He caught her before her head hit the ground, preventing any farther damage, but as his hand moved to inspect the back of her head, it encountered a warm thatch of hair already sticky with blood.   
As things couldn’t get any worse, Jared and Lance came through the door a minute later. They were laughing about something as they walked into the kitchen, but as soon as Lance’s eyes fell on Booth on the floor, lifeless Temperance in his lap and blood on his hands, the boys launched himself at Booth, a ball of righteous fury. Tiny ineffectual fists pounded into him, as the boy screamed.   
Booth had no idea what to do. His eyes went to Jared, who stood in the kitchen door. His brother’s face was devoid of any emotion. He just looked vacant. Booth recognized the look from the times he hadn’t been able to protect Jared. It was the boy’s coping method, he just pretended he wasn’t there. Sadly Jared was as good at coping as the rest of them. They had all had too much practice.   
“Jared!” Booth yelled, trying to snap him out of his trance. Then he tried again, this time using a calm but authoritative tone. “Jared, I need you to help me.”  
Jared blinked.  
“Just get him off of me for a minute. Bones slipped and hit her head. I need to make sure she is alright, but I can’t do that with him like this.”  
Jared blinked again, this time taking in the scene in front of him. Then he stepped forward and scooped Lance into his arms, wrapping him in a tight hug. Booth heard Jared humming softly, but his focus was the girl in his lap.   
The fact that she hadn’t woken up with all the noise was terrifying. He grabbed a dishtowel that was hanging from the stove and pressed it to the back of her head to staunch the blood, his mind racing from something else to do. He checked her pulse, which was steady, then her breathing, which was shallow.   
Then a thought occurred to him. Maybe she was like Jared. Maybe she was just hiding somewhere inside herself, waiting until it was safe to come out again. Maybe what she needed was calm. He pulled her up to lean on his chest and whispered in her ear.   
“It’s okay now, Bones. You’re safe. I got you. You gotta wake up though. Lance is worried about you.”  
Her eyes fluttered open, before she squeezed them closed. “Mmm, Booth? What happened?”  
“You hit your head. The boys are home now, and I think Lance would like to make sure you’re okay.”  
“Of course,” she mumbled, trying to stand, but she stumbled. Booth’s hands on her back and arm steadied her. “I’m fine. Come here, Lance.”  
“Are you feeling dizzy? Nauseous? You should recite the periodic table. You probably have a concussion,” Lance asked.  
“How do you know about that, bud?” Booth asked, surprised by the usually quiet boy’s knowledge.   
Lance glared at him, before returning to his inspection of his foster sister.  
“Lance likes to read medical text books. He is going to be a doctor someday,” Temperance explained proudly, before dutifully listing the elements. Once Dr. Lance was finished with his assessment, she made an excuse from them to leave.   
When they got home, it took a while for Temperance to convince Lance that Booth had done nothing wrong. They went about their daily routine, until bedtime when Lance knocked on her door.   
“I have to wake you up every hour,” he said by way of explanation.   
“Of course,” she smiled, patting the bed. When Lance woke her up at five, she decided it was time to start the day. As she did her chores she thought about Booth. She had been thinking about Booth all night, or more specifically, what Booth had asked her.   
He couldn’t have known about her last foster brother. He had no reason to think she would react to an innocent question so violently. In fact, she hadn’t even known herself. She thought she had moved past it. That was what the court appointed therapist said. She had been given a clean bill of mental health. Then again, she had never taken much stock in psychology.   
She kept seeing the sad, hurt look in his eyes as she left. It wasn’t his fault. She had already admitted to herself that she found him attractive. It wasn’t surprising that he would ask her out, and yet it was. Before Booth, she had been a social outcast. They popular kids teased her. She never knew the right thing to say. People thought she was too smart or too morbid or just too weird.   
She left the house a half hour early hoping to avoid him, but it was not to be. Booth was already waiting for her at the end of the driveway.   
“I brought you a hot chocolate and a banana.”   
She noticed he didn’t move toward her at all and held his offers at arms length. “Thank you,” she sighed. “Since we are both up so early, do you want to go to the park?”  
“Yeah, I think that would be good.”  
The walk was quiet. Neither was quite sure where to begin. As they sat on the swings they booth spoke at once.   
“It wasn’t your fault…” “I’m sorry…”   
She sighed, and started again. “It wasn’t your fault, Booth. You know my past is complicated. That’s why I don’t think it is a good idea for us to go out.”  
“Oh, uh, yeah, that wasn’t what I meant. I mean I like you… as a friend… in a attagirl kind of way, but I just meant would you like to date in general. Eric asked about you and if you might go to the next dance with him, and I didn’t know what to say. Except that’s a lie, I told him you don’t, but then I realized that you might like to, um, go out with him, so I just thought I would, you know, check.”  
Temperance blushed. How could she have been so stupid. Of course he didn’t want to go out with her. She was so embarrassed, she completely missed the second half of what he said.   
Booth watched the emotions on her face as best he could from his position beside her. The embarrassment was clear, but there was something else. After a minute, he was forced to ask again.   
“So, would you like to go to the dance with him?”   
“Who?”  
“Eric Henderson.”  
“No, I don’t dance.”  
“Oh.” Relief flooded through him, but he still found himself asking, “You don’t dance? At all?”  
“I haven’t had much opportunity.”  
“Would you like to? I could teach you.”  
“I…” she blushed, shook her head and restarted with new determination. “No, I can’t. I have a big project in… Spanish. I need to work on.”  
Booth knew she was lying. He could see it written all over her face, but he decided not to call her on it. Yet…


	12. Honesty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Temperance goes on a date

Temperance hadn’t thought about dating in a long time. It wasn’t that she wasn’t attracted to boys, she was a teenager after all, but she was busy surviving. There wasn’t time for the silly crushes she used to giggle about with her mother.   
When Booth brought up the prospect of dating, at first she was terrified. This was Booth, her best friend. She knew the odds of a relationship between them lasting beyond high school. She wasn’t going to risk their friendship over some biological urges.   
Then again, Eric was cute. Not as pleasing to the eye as Booth, but cute. She was honestly considering Booth’s offer to teach her to dance, when she remembered she wasn’t a carefree girl anymore. If she went to the dance, she would be in the Queen Bee’s territory. She would have to find an appropriate dress and even if she could afford it, the Colter’s probably wouldn’t let her go and going to the dance would mean leaving Lance alone with no one to protect him.   
It wasn’t worth it.   
Instead, she focused on her school work, that and sneaking an extreme hair growth formula into Regina’s body wash. Everything was going as planned, until Booth brought up   
“So, I know you don’t want to go to the dance, but what about just a date?” he asked as they walked to school Thursday.  
“That would depend,” she shrugged.   
“On what?” he asked.  
“Well, for starters, Eric would actually have to ask me.”  
Booth laughed. “I guess that would be a good start.”  
The next day as she was walking to Library, Eric asked her to get a slice of pizza after school and she agreed. During Chemistry she told Booth about her plans, and asked him to look out for Lance until she got home. Of course he agreed, another part of the puzzle of her reluctance to go to the dance, settling in his mind.   
Once home, he waited impatiently for the boys to get home. No music, or television show, book or movie could hold his attention. Meanwhile, Temperance made polite conversation with Eric. He was pleasing to look at, and very polite, but when she asked if he had read anything interesting lately, he listed off the required reading list. The conversation didn’t improve from there. Eric spent the entire time talking about ghostbusters.   
All in all, she was walking into Booth’s house a little more than an hour after she left school.  
“Hey,” Booth called, alerted to her arrival by the sound of the door opening. “You’re home early?”  
Instead of saying anything, she simple flopped on the couch and flipped on the TV.   
“What’s wrong? Did something happen? Did he do something?” Booth asked getting more agitated with each question.   
Temperance grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the couch beside her, not letting go even after he was settled. “It was fine, Booth. Relax. It was just… I don’t know…” she shrugged.  
“Not what you were hoping for?” he offered, glad he didn’t have to kick Eric’s ass the next time he saw him.   
“Yes, I guess that is true. This date was an experiment for me. I wanted to see what it would be like to be a normal girl.”  
“Normal?”   
“Everyone treats me differently. They have ever since I went into the system. I was a little unusual before my parents left. I was more interested in science than dances and clothes, but that was ok, because my dad was the science teacher, and I had grown up with all the kids in my class. They knew me when we were all toothless kindergarteners. I went to 5 different schools last year. Five sets of popular girls calling me Morticia or Wednesday or Mrs. Munster. Five teams of jocks shoving me in lockers. Five counselors telling me it would get better. I finally had someone ask me out, and I wanted to know what it would be like to just be a normal girl on a date for once.”  
Booth tried to process everything that had just come pouring out of her. “Well? How was it?”  
“Honestly?”  
Booth nodded  
“Boring.”  
“What?”  
“Eric was nice and all, but we didn’t have anything in common. He just wanted to talk about his best plays, and ghostbusters.”  
“Oh, do I bore you?” he asked nervously.   
Temperance’s eyes widened in surprise. “No, of course not. You are my best friend, Booth.”  
“I am?” He asked, surprised.  
She blushed and pulled her hand away. “No, I meant best of Friends. Just friends. I just said we were friends. No big deal.”   
“I think you like me, Bones. I think I am your best friend,” he teased, but then her eyes grew more panicked, and he quickly backed off. “You are my best friend, Bones. You are probably the only friend I have that really knows me.”  
“I am?” she asked softly.   
“Yeah,” he grinned. “And as my best friend, you should let me teach you to dance.”  
“But Booth, I’m not going to the dance.”  
“I know that, but someday you are going to meet someone who isn’t boring, and who sees you for who you really are and when that day comes, you are going to want to blow them away with your awesome dance moves.”  
“Well, I already know few things,” she said with a smirk.   
Booth turned on the radio. “Well, show me what ya got.”  
Girls just want to have fun, played in the background as she jumped, kicked, and shimmied around the room. Booth watched until she grabbed his hand, when the boys walked in a moment later, they looked at older kids like they were crazy, before joining them dancing around the room.   
The afternoon was spent dancing. Later when Temperance and Lance returned to the Colter’s, Jared sat at the table working on his homework.   
“I miss dancing with mom,” he said quietly.   
“I know, Bud, me too.”  
“I like Tempe.”  
“Yeah, me too,” Booth sighed. “Me too.”


	13. Courage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dance is here.

As Temperance lay in bed that night, she thought about what a good time they had had that afternoon. Booth always had a way of making her forget that she was a foster child. For one afternoon, she had been a happy girl. Not with Eric on the date, but with Booth, (and Jared and Lance) dancing like no one was watching.  
It made her rethink her decision not to go to the dance. She was coming to realize that being a normal girl was overrated. Being happy was much more important. The only thing she had to do, was get a dress, and ask Mrs. Abramovic to watch Lance.   
She didn’t tell Booth her plans, though. She didn’t want him to get his hopes up, in case it didn’t work out. She would need some help, and she knew just where to look.   
“Hello?” she called as she walked into the art studio.  
“Hi!” answered a perky girl covered in paint.   
“You are Angela, right?”  
“Um, yeah, that’s me. Do I know you?”  
“I’m Temperance. I saw some of you work hanging in the halls, and I need your help.”  
“Ok, you want me to paint you something?” Angela asked.  
“Not exactly. I really enjoyed your use of color. I have decided to go the the dance next week, but I need some help with a dress.”  
“A dress? Shopping? Now that, I can handle!”  
“I was hoping you would say that,” Temperance said with a smile.   
A week later, Booth was dancing with Regina, when his world was tipped upside down. Regina was complaining about the fact that he refused to wear a tie the matched her dress, when the gym door squeaked open and two girls walked in. He ended up stepping on Regina’s foot, because he couldn’t take his eyes off of Temperance.   
“Seeley!” Regina whined.  
“Uh, sorry,” he mumbled, only looking at her for a moment, before his gaze found Temperance again.   
This time, Regina looked over to see what was distracting him. “Ugh, I thought you said she wasn’t coming?”  
“I didn’t know…” Booth answered, clearly bewildered. It was her, but he had never seen her like this. Her eyes were smoky, red lips, arms bare and surprisingly toned, and the deep blue of her form fitting dress made her skin look like porcelain.  
When she felt his gaze, her eyes found his and a smile bloomed on her face, as she mouthed, “Surprise!”  
It was the understatement of the year.   
Beside him, Regina cleared her throat and he returned to their dance, vowing to find her as soon as the song was over. She was at the punch table, when he found her.   
“Hello, Booth,” she called, amusement dancing in her eyes.  
“Hey, I thought you said you weren’t coming.”  
“I wasn’t sure. There were things I had to get in order. This is Angela. She helped me with the dress,” she said gesturing to her new friend.   
“Hey there, Handsome. I see you like my work,” Angela teased with a wink.   
Booth blushed. “It’s, um, nice to meet you, Angela. I think I’ve seen you around school.”  
“I’m sure you have,” she laughed. “Sweetie, you good for a while? There is a v who is giving me that look.”  
“I don’t know what that means, but I’ll be fine,” Temperance said. Once they were alone, neither knew exactly what to say.   
“Do you want to dance?” he asked.   
“It is the accepted social practice.”  
They started with the electric slide. Booth had to stifle a laugh at Temperance less than smooth moves, but the joy on her face made up for any missteps. When the dulcet beginning melody of Seal’s Kiss from a Rose started to play, Booth offered to get them some punch.   
“Can we dance, Booth? It’s Seal!” She asked, with a quirked half smile.  
“Um, yeah, of course,” he smiled back. At first their movements were slightly stilted, but as they fell into the rhythm of the song, he held her close, until someone tapped on his shoulder.  
“Did you forget about me?” Regina asked with barely suppressed rage.   
“I’m sorry, Regina. Bones and I were just catching up,” Booth said, though he hadn’t released the girl in his arms.   
“Well, if you’re done catching up with Morticia, I think it’s about time for them to announce King and Queen,” Regina said, openly glaring at Temperance.   
“Don’t call her that,” Booth said.  
“Come on, you call her Bones,” Regina laughed.   
Booth blanched. He had never thought about it like that. Her resistance to the nickname in the beginning, had been chalked up to her refusal to let people get close to her. He never considered that she might take offense. While he was considering this, Temperance was growing more uncomfortable.   
As if her spidey sense had been tingling, Angela appeared. “Regina,” she snarled.  
“Angela,” Regina answered with obvious disdain.   
“It must be so hard for you to find someone to dance with if you can’t even leave your date for a song or two. Come on Sweetie, Drummer boy has friend I want you to meet.” Without another word, she locked arms and pulled Temperance away.   
“You didn’t have to come back,” Temperance said, still feeling a bit awkward.   
“Of course, I did. I’m your wing woman tonight sister. You are going to dance with more cute boys, and it is my job to find them for you. So, what’s you’re type, other than tall, dark and handsome?”  
“Um…” Temperance had no idea what her type was.   
“Don’t worry, it will be like a buffet. We will try them all!” Angela laughed.   
Booth watched from across the gym as Angela and Bones danced with almost every guy in the room. Bones even danced with Eric, though when she caught Booth staring, she smiled for the first time in several minutes. He couldn’t hide his own grin.   
Every comment Regina made about Temperance made his blood boil. She was jealous, he knew it, but seeing this vapid, catty side of Regina, made her very unattractive.   
“Seeley! Are you even listening?” Regina asked for what felt like the hundredth time.   
“No, sorry, what were you saying?”  
“I was saying, I don’t know where she got that dress, but it is clearly from a second hand store. No one has made that cut in years.”  
“So, this is a rented tux,” Booth pointed out.   
Regina scoffed, “Well… it is different for girls. If she had real parents, she would know.”  
Booth stiffened. “That is uncalled for. It isn’t Temperance’s fault that she is in foster care.”  
“Why are you always defending her? You are with me. If you wanted to dance with her, you should have just asked her,” Regina growled.   
“Obviously I should have, because she is over there having a good time, and I’m over here fighting with you,” Booth snapped.   
“Well, don’t let me stop you. If you want to be with her, go right ahead.”  
Without another word, Booth turned and made his way across the room. “Hey, do you want to get out of here?”  
“Um, what are you talking about Booth?” Temperance asked, looking over his shoulder at Regina who was seething with rage.   
“I’m just kinda over this. I was thinking about going to that diner on Hamilton for some pie.”  
“You know I don’t like my fruit cooked.”  
“Ok, I’ll get some fries too, and pretend not to see you steal them all.”  
“What about Angela?” She started to ask, when the girl in question once again appeared out of nowhere.  
“Sweetie, if Booth wants to make like a banana, I will be just fine on my own.”  
“I don’t know what that means,” Temperance said, looking between Booth and Angela.   
“It means split. She is good. So, what do ya say?”   
She still wasn’t sure. It was already 8:45 and the Colter’s said she had to be home by 9:30, but she was having such a good time that she wasn’t ready to go back to normal life just yet.   
“Let’s do it!” She agreed.   
Regina was still glaring at them as they ran out hand in hand.


	14. Courage (part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The highest highs and the lowest lows.

Courage (part 2)  
Not far from school was a diner they went to on occasion. Booth would have liked to take her to a nicer place, but it was too late for that now. As promised he ordered fries and a slice of apple pie, while she simply ordered an iced tea. They talked about school, and movies, and the books Temperance was reading. Temperance told him about her college courses, and that she was hoping to finish high school next year and head to college a year early. She was already looking into becoming an emancipated minor, though she wasn’t sure if she could afford the court costs.   
All this talk of her future, got Booth thinking about his own. He knew he would join the military. Every man in his family had served for five generations, but what about after that? Should he go to college? What would he even study?  
When he voiced this thought, Temperance didn’t answer right away. He could tell she was giving it some serious consideration. She had that squinty, thoughtful look she got sometimes.   
“I don’t know, Booth. You excel in several subjects, but what I think you are passionate about is things being fair, justice,” she said.   
“Like, a lawyer?” Booth questioned, doubtfully.  
“No, I don’t think you would like being cooped up in office or a courtroom all the time. I was thinking more, detective.”  
Booth considered this. She was right. Sitting in a office fourteen hours a day sounded like torture, but chasing bad guys, that sounded like fun. “I could be like Magnum!”   
“Or Sherlock Holmes, though many of his books had slight inconsistencies. You do have an eye for detail, and since we have become friends I have often observed your way of reading people.”  
“You watch me?” he asked with a cocky grin.  
“I observe human behavior, and yours is of particular interest, because you are my friend.”  
“Who could argue with that?”  
Soon, it was time to head home. Booth paid the tab, though Temperance insisted on leaving the tip. As they walked down the quiet streets toward home, Booth’s hand reached out and caught hers. He smiled when didn’t pull away.   
“I wanted to tell you, that I kinda feel like this is going somewhere,” Booth said quietly, bracing for rejection.   
Instead, Temperance asked, “Why do you feel that?”  
“I kinda feel like kissing you,” he answered.   
Despite her previous reactions, this time for some reason she felt safe. She stopped and tugged his hand, turning his body toward her. Then rolled up on her toes and kissed him. At first it was just a pressing of lips, but then she let go of his hand, arms traveling to his neck and pulling him closer and the kiss deepened.   
Someone driving down the street a few minutes later startled them apart.   
“I have to go. I’m going to be late,” Temperance said, her voice suddenly laced with panic, as she checked her watch.   
“It’s okay, Bones. I’m sure the…”  
She raised an eyebrow at him, reminding him without words that she had been severely punished for much less. They walked the last 2 blocks as quickly as she could in heels and a dress. Mr. Colter was on the front porch waiting. Booth’s gut clenched.   
“You should go home, Booth. I can handle this.”  
“No way, Bones. Best friends don’t just leave.”  
“You’re late,” Mr. Colter said as they walked up the drive. “I thought you were going with that girl who picked you up.”  
“I did go with Angela, but Booth lives next door, so he offered to walk me home. We lost track of time, but I am only three minutes late,” Temperance explained, trying to remain calm, and praying that whatever punishment she received would be dealt after Booth left.  
“Don’t you lie to me, Girl. I see you got all tarted up for the Drunk’s son. I know your kind. Whores with no regard for common decency. If you don’t know how to act properly, I guess I’ll have to remind you,” His voice got louder with each accusation, but as he swung his fist, Booth tackled him to the ground.   
Mr. Colter was surprised, but quickly started landing punches as Booth tried to fight back. Temperance was shocked for a moment, but then Mr. Colter landed a particularly nasty jab to Booth’s kidney, and Temperance flew into action, tackling Mr. Colter from behind with a choke hold she had been trying to learn. It wasn’t exactly successful. Mr. Colter stumbled back, but then grabbed her arm, throwing her to the ground and kicking her hard a few times before Booth could get between them.   
A searing pain filled her chest, but she tried to get to her feet again. Booth wasn’t doing much better against Mr. Colter, who had been a golden gloves boxer when he was young. Somewhere in the scuffle Jared had come out of Booth’s house. Seeing his brother on the ground, and Temperance coughing blood. He quickly ran back inside and called 911.   
A Police car came around the corner a few minutes later, but the damage was already done. Mr. Colter claimed that he had caught Booth and Temperance in a compromising position. Luckily, another neighbor decided to step in and tell the police the truth. They claimed to have stayed in their house out of fear of Mr. Colter.   
Temperance drifted in and out of consciousness as she rode to the hospital but she knew Booth was with her because of his tight grip on her hand and his gentle voice in her ear.


	15. Healing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The healing process is long and sometimes ends in heartbreak.

Temperance hated the feeling of waking up after surgery. Her mind was fuzzy and her body didn’t respond that way t was supposed to. She linked several times, the bright lights causing her head to throb. Sun streaming through the window meant it was at least morning. She wondered how Booth was faring. When they had been separated at the ER, he said he would find her, but she didn’t really expect him to be here.  
Still, her stomach sank as she reached for her chart at the end of the bed. Broke ribs. No surprise there. A perforated lung explained her shortness of breath. Broke ankle, was odd, though she had heard a snap when Mr. Colter threw her. All in all, she would heal. No permanent damage.  
She would however be starting over at a new school. Hopefully it was somewhere she could still do her college courses, and her credits would transfer. Then there was Lance, the poor kid had been through so much already, but there was no way the social worker would keep them together. They didn’t even keep real siblings together.  
She was still considering her options, when there was a knock at the door.  
“Come in.”  
“Hello, Miss…” The social worker checked her file. “Brennan. How are you feeling?”  
“Fine.” Temperance answered, though her attention was on the sounds of an altercation in the hall. “What is that?”  
The social worker sighed, “Mr. Booth is still out there, but I told him it is our policy that no one sees the victim other than Doctors, until you give you statement to the police.”  
“Mr. Booth?”  
“Yes, the young man they brought in with you.”  
“Well, if you can be in here and you are neither police nor doctor, than I want Booth,” Temperance announced, glaring dangerously. The woman seemed as if she would protest, but thought better of it, and simply opened the door.  
Booth rushed in. “Bones, I’m so glad you’re awake! I have been so worried. Are you okay?”  
“I’m fine, Booth. How are you?” she asked. His arm was in a sling and he had a black eye, so he clearly hadn’t escaped injury.  
“Oh, this, it’s fine. Just a fracture.”  
“And?” she asked.  
Booth looked sheepish. “A slight concussion, but it is really nothing. Not compared to…”  
“Me?”  
“You’ll be happy to know that we are removing you from the Colter’s care,” the Social worker chimed in.  
“Do you need to be in here?” Temperance asked, clearly annoyed.  
“No, but I am here to ensure your safety,” she answered, eyeing Booth.  
“Well, you are making me uncomfortable. Please, leave,” Temperance said.  
Once the woman shut the door, Temperance turned to Booth, who had taken a seat in chair by her bed.  
“I don’t think you are going to get the deposit back on that tux,” she sighed.  
He chuckled, “No, I don’t think I will. You could have been a little nicer to the social worker though. I mean isn’t she like in charge of your future?”  
“I am in charge of my future, Booth. That woman can’t even be bothered to learn my name. She will go back to her office and stamp Probems on my file and then hand me off to someone else. When I get to the next place, it will be up to me to make sure my records are transferred properly. If this whole thing has taught me one thing, it is that I need to get out of the system as soon as possible.”  
“Where will you go?” Booth asked. This was the first time he realized that she was leaving.  
“I don’t know, probably a group home. That is where they put kids who don’t stay quiet. I don’t know if I will be able to see you again.”  
“But we could keep in touch…”  
“Through email, I suppose, but would you really want to?”  
“Bones, you are my best friend, of course I want to.”  
So, they kept in touch, as she passed from St. Mary’s home for girls to New Horizons Group home to oxford house, and was finally adopted by Mr. Newton. It turned out that Booth’s life was also changed rather dramatically by the events that night. When he got back from the hospital the next day, Pops was there. Booth had called him from the hospital when he couldn’t get in touch with his father.  
Edward Booth disappeared, and Booth never looked for him. Pops and Grams took the boys to live with them. Though it took a while, they found some friends who adopt Lance, and after nine months, Pops old army buddy Mr. Newton agreed to foster Temperance.  
True to her dreams, Temperance went started at Northwestern a year early, though she still lived with Mr. Newton, helping him around the house and making sure his pills were organized. Booth graduated on time, and headed for basic training, but they still kept in touch, sometimes letters, sometimes email. They told each other about their adventures and dreams and fears.  
Booth was fast tracked through Ranger training. His marksmanship and calm under pressure became legend. All the guys knew about Bones, and she knew everything about his guys. When she received a letter from Teddy on the day of her dissertation, she thought nothing of it. He was probably asking for more of her famous cookies she sent them from time to time. As she read the letter, her chest started to feel tight.  
It wasn’t possible. Booth couldn’t be gone. He was her best friend. They skyped just a few days before this letter was sent. It couldn’t be true, and yet, Teddy was not the type of guy to lie about something like this. She called Pops number, but the phone was answered by a family friend, who said the Booth’s were busy talking with military personnel.  
She stumbled into the bathroom and cried from what feels like hours, before there was a knock.  
“Come on, Sweetie. It’s time, he wouldn’t want you to miss this,” Angela called. Temperance could hear the tears in her friends voice.  
She was right though, Booth would want her to keep going. She had been sending him drafts of her dissertation for months. He was her biggest fan, so she walked into the lecture hall and earned her first doctorate.


	16. Fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was fate.

Eight years later, Seeley Booth was working for the FBI when Jemma Arrington’s mother came to see him. She wanted him to finally solve her daughter’s case. The New York coroner was in town, and agreed to sign over the body.   
“You know the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again, expecting a different outcome,” Cam said.   
“Okay, but maybe I missed something?” Booth replied, not because he thought he had, but because he couldn’t accept that they knew who the killer was, and couldn’t prove it.   
“How’s about you get another point of view?”  
“Partner up? No,” Booth said firmly. “You know I don’t do that.”  
“There’s a forensic anthropologist at the jeffersonian who just solved the death of a Stone Age hunter.”  
“How does that help?”  
“If she could do that, maybe she can give you some insight on Gemma’s case.”  
“Forensics don’t solve crimes, Cam. Cops do.”  
“Same activity, same results,” she insisted as she walked away.   
“Hey, hey, hey. Where can I find this scientist?”  
Cam smiled, “She is teaching a class at American University. Lecture hall 120. She will be there til noon.”  
Booth made his way across town, still not sure if he was making the right choice. Scientist weren’t exactly his type of people. The squints at the FBI always made him feel uncomfortable. Still, he owed it to Gemma and her mother to try to solve the case.   
He heard her voice before he saw her. He was walking down the hall, and he couldn’t quite believe it. It couldn’t be her. After all these years, there was no way fate had brought them back together, but sure enough, he opened the door and saw the face that still haunted his dreams.   
She was older, but it was her. He took a seat in the back, and watched her lecture. The sound of her voice, making him feel calm and at home for the first time in years. He thought she saw him a few times, but then she would shake her head and continue her lecture.  
When she was finished, students flooded down to ask her questions, or simple fawn over her. It reminded him a bit of when he would see her tutoring in the library. Slowly, the students trickled out, and she was left to gather her notes.   
He couldn’t put this off any longer.   
He stood, and walked toward her.  
“I always knew you would make something of yourself, Bones,” he said proudly.   
Her back was turned and she shook her head again, and rolled her shoulders. “I must be more tired than I thought,” she mumbled.   
“You should take better care of yourself,” he said. If he was honest, he expected her to have more of a reaction to his presence.   
“And I will start by not talking to hallucinations,” she said a little more firmly, though her back was still turned.   
“I know I haven’t seen or talked to you in a while, but that doesn’t mean I am a hallucination,” he said reaching out to turn her around.   
Her face was an unreadable mask when she finally looked at him. “Booth?”  
“Um, yeah, it’s me. How’ve ya been?”  
She pulled herself out of his grip and stepped back, knocking into the tank. “You’re dead. I got a letter 8 years ago, that said you were dead,” she said, almost to herself. As if trying to convince herself that the whole interaction as an elaborate hallucination.   
“Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated,” he joked, trying to lighten the mood, but she simple tilted her head and squinted at him. When he saw that she was still struggling, he became more serious. “I spent sometime as a POW over there. Who told you I was dead?”  
“I got a letter from Teddy.”  
He couldn’t hide the drop of his heart. “Teddy died during my rescue. When I got back, I was going to look you up, but…”  
“But you decided to let me think you were dead,” she said, a little of the old fire lighting in her eyes. “And what, pray tell, finally convinced you to track me down?”  
“It wasn’t like that, Bones…”  
“Don’t call me Bones!”  
“I wasn’t myself when I got home. I needed some time. I swear I didn’t know about the letter. I thought, well I thought you would be off living your life, that you would have forgotten all about me by now.”  
“Sure, a snap to forget the best friend I have ever had,” she snapped, trying to slip around him, but he grabbed her arm.   
“I’m still your best friend?”   
She glared, but he didn’t let go. “Of course, you are Booth. Now, please, why are you here?”  
“For the record, you are my best friend, too, but since you asked, I work for the FBI now, and we have a case.”  
Suddenly, the prospect of working with a partner was a lot more palatable. For another eight years, they chased each other through wars, and serial killers, and ghosts, and snakes and when they finally caught each other, they never let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god. This is it. I hope you all enjoyed it, and PLEASE leave me a comment? I have been working on this forever and I am so excited to see what people think. Thanks for sticking with me!


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